After he formally clinched the nomination, McCain surprised some people by announcing that he had not yet put serious thought into picking a VP candidate. But now, after McCain has enjoyed some downtime, he is finally ready to start the search, though we may still have a long wait before a decision is finally announced. Via Reuters:

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Wednesday he has begun the process of finding a vice presidential running mate and wants someone who shares his views and can take his place…

…McCain said he was just beginning to put together a search team to vet potential candidates and seek background checks on them. He joked that he has had “at least 100 volunteers to lead” the search for a No. 2…

…No decision was expected any time soon. Presidential nominees often wait until just before their party’s nominating convention in late summer to announce their running mate….

Ok, no surprise there. We knew McCain was going to need a VP, and we knew that the search would probably start within a few weeks of his’ winning the nomination. But what about candidates? Well, in that area, McCain said next to nothing. In fact, the only potential VP who came up was Romney, and even in that area, McCain didn’t bite:

…”Speaking to reporters on his campaign plane, the expected Republican nominee said he had seen news reports that a defeated rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, had expressed interest in the job, but he offered no comment one way or the other on whether Romney would be a candidate.”…

…”‘I got that impression watching the interview last night,'” McCain said of Romney’s interest in the No. 2 slot on the Republican ticket in November’s election”….

Clearly, McCain isn’t ready to show his hand, but now that we know the search is in progress, pressure is going to be mounting for him to confirm who is being looked at and who isn’t. I would encourage all of my readers to watch Sean Hannity’s interview with McCain tomorrow night on FOX.